Noisy trem springs!

[Dee]

I just noticed my trem springs are vibrating and the sound is coming through the pickup. What's a good way to dampen them? I had to put a sock in the trem cavity, LOL.

[V-type]

Steve has this in Evo:

lol..actually the Evo mini gallery won't open. But Go to http://www.vai.com/Machines/guitars1.html and click on Evo Mini gallery. Just go through the pics, you'll see what I'm talking about.

[Dee]

Where''s the link? I can't see "Evo mini gallery".

[crevis]

he's got tissues stuffed in there, works but makes it hard to get at the claw when you want to.

[Dee]

Oh you mean this? LOL. Ummm, nah, I'll give that method a miss!

I'm thinking of stuffing each spring with foam or something.

[Dee]

OK, that's done a fairly good job. I stuffed each spring tightly with foam (a washing up sponge with green abrasive stuff on one side -- just removed the abrasive part), but it still vibrated a little. Two strips of foam wedged between the springs improved it though. Now it's OK. There must be a better solution, I think. Too much foam wedged in and it messes with the tuning...

I don't know how I didn't notice the vibrations before. Then again, I only just started using a noise gate, and the gate wasn't kicking in fast enough due to the vibrations. Dampening it makes a huge difference.

[Drow Swordsman]

Originally Posted by Dee

OK, that's done a fairly good job. I stuffed each spring tightly with foam (a washing up sponge with green abrasive stuff on one side -- just removed the abrasive part), but it still vibrated a little. Two strips of foam wedged between the springs improved it though. Now it's OK. There must be a better solution, I think. Too much foam wedged in and it messes with the tuning...

I don't know how I didn't notice the vibrations before. Then again, I only just started using a noise gate, and the gate wasn't kicking in fast enough due to the vibrations. Dampening it makes a huge difference.

I didn't notice for a LONG time, and when I noticed it I could hear it every time - especially unplugged. Not with the amp though. Key is just to tune out - now I've stopped hearing it, but if I wanted to I'd hear it and then I'd have to take forever to stop hearing it again...

[crevis]

Do you think it effects the sustain?

[Dee]

Nah, I don't notice any difference except less noise (try playing with a noise gate like I did and see if the spring vibration causes the gate to stay open when you stop playing), plus my playing sounds cleaner!

Edit: After playing a little longer I'd say it's definitely cleaner sounding, and more punchy. In comparison it was very muddy before, especially on fast, muted alternate picking runs. I should have dampened the springs years ago.

[frankfalbo]

For over a decade I've been wrapping my trem springs with one rotation of electrical tape at the base where the claw is. It kills all the noise, tightens the overall sound into the pickups, and doesn't affect anything about the trem action. At this point it's a must for me.

[AmazinAzian12]

Could u post a picture of how u did it frank? and what u used? that sounds like a good idea.

[Dee]

Interesting, Frank. I wouldn't have imagined that to work so well, but I might try it. A pic would be appreciated, just so we are sure exactly where to put it.

[frankfalbo]

You can put it anywhere. I put it at near the claw so I can still grip the spring toward the trem block when I'm putting it back on. You just take a 2" length of the black electrical tape and wrap it around the spring. It doesn't have to cover the rest of the spring, because just dampening the base of it stops all the reverberation. Here's a pic on a 550DY:

Here's a Magenta Power:

[Dee]

Thanks, I'll try that.


I need to buy some electrical tape first though. I suppose duct tape would work?

[frankfalbo]

Sure. It'll be a gummy mess if you remove it, but that's part of the same reason electrical tape works well. You could use masking tape too, but a rubbery vinyl tape is best because it has elasticity as well as a mild adhesive.